The British government had at one point sought to purchase the
F-35B carrier variant JSFs, though the plan was scrapped once the
cash-strapped nation saw the costs of outfitting its Queen
Elizabeth class carriers balloon upwards.

The F-35 program, envisioned as a cheaper single engined
alternative to the too-hot-for-export F-22, has been marked by
cost overruns (though, really, what Pentagon program hasn't
been), which have caused headaches for would-be foreign buyers
that seek to justify not only per unit purchase price, but also
the operational costs of maintaining the aircraft.

The Joint Strike Fighter currently counts on partnerships with
eight nations, including the UK, Canada, Turkey and Denmark--a
framework that ostensibly offers offset development costs for the
aircraft, along with potential purchases.

The Netherlands, which has already ordered two test planes, is
currently mulling whether to scrap plans to purchase the F-35
altogether in light of new austerity measures, with a proposal by
its leading party (Labour) likely to be submitted prior to
September elections
to end the country’s JSF participation.

Japan, which had originally wanted to purchase the twin engined
F-22, is slated to procure an initial delivery of four F-35s,
though the deal had to be massaged by the U.S. as the aircraft’s
price tag rose to $120 million from the initial $110 million.

As the scale of the project has shifted due to postponed
production in the U.S., this has in turn impacted per unit price.
Still, despite these hurdles the program has seen success, such
as Israel’s planned purchase of 20 F-35 fighters for its air
force, a
deal valued at $2.7 billion. In addition, Norway has
finalized its first “firm” order for two of the aircraft, and
plans to eventually order 50 – the $10 billion deal would mark
that country’s largest ever public purchase.

These deals help, though as Battleland's Winslow Wheeler recently
pointed out in his own excellent piece, the GAO's recent
oversight report on the aircraft seems to suffer from
a startling amount of creative optimism. Despite the
aircraft’s ever fluctuating price tag, the F-35 remains the only
fifth-generation stealth game in town, and the U.S. has thus far
managed to keep the program moving forward, albeit at a slower
pace than it first imagined. The future of the program now seems
to hinge on maintaining the current production outlook stable,
thus preventing future unit price increases as international
buyers seek to replace their ageing aircraft fleets.